The Life and Times of Nico di Angelo
by the ghost king
Summary: Nico di Angelo and Thalia Grace were like Romeo & Juliet; meant for each other, but forbidden. Despite years of secretly dating Nico, Thalia is forced into marriage with Luke. This is the story of Nico di Angelo, from his High School days, till his death
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

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**Nico ~**

I was her Romeo, and she was my Juliet, but there are never any happy endings … at least for me. Shakespeare wrote tragedies, not fairy tales that always begin with "once upon a time" and end with "and they lived happily ever after". Unfortunately there is no happily ever after for any child of Hades, Just look at my sister, Bianca. In fact look at my life. My story is one where everyone thought was perfect … at least in the beginning, but in the end, the fates came back to haunt me, and left me a lonely, broken hearted man. This is my story …

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**I apologize if there were any problems with broken links or anything of that sort. I had to delete the original because I found some mistakes and needed to add a little more detail. Well, I think I should give more information on this fic, don't you think? First of all, I'm debating with myself whether or not to include chapters that include other character's POVs, such as Thalia's or possibly, Luke's. I have yet to decide on that, but most likely Thalia's POV will be included. Secondly, this fic will be based on songs handpicked by either myself, or a few close friends. I'll try to include different ranges of songs so that everyone gets a little something that they want. You are free to suggest songs if you wish. For now, that is all. Farewell for now ...**


	2. Chapter 1: Meeting

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, nor do I own any of the songs used above. **

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**Nico ~**

Like I said, at first, my life was something you would call perfect. There was no doubt at all; in fact, there isn't any other word that could describe it. That was only in the beginning though, the rest was painful, almost unbearable.

I'll be as brief as can be, but like every story, I'm start from the beginning. Well … at least the beginning of my once perfect tale … when I met her.

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**Nico ~**

It was the start of another school year, meaning that our school was would be bustling with people. Lively conversations could be heard every corner you turned. Everyone was talking about what they did during the summer. "I went to Chicago with my family." "I met this girl over the summer, and we made out like crazy." Seriously, I couldn't care less. Nothing like that can beat a summer at Camp Half-Blood. All I wanted to do was go home and sleep. I was in no mood to go to "indulge myself into learning" as the teachers wanted us all to be doing. Give me a break!

"Mr. di Angelo!" My history teacher, Mrs. Glasgow screeched at me. "Go get your textbooks immediately, or you'll be spending your afternoon in my room dusting the blackboards!"

I turned my back against her and stormed off, without giving that woman a second glance, or even so much of a 'yes'. I should just summon some skeletons to drag that witch to the fields of punishment, but then again, father would skin me alive for bringing a living person to the Underworld. I cursed in ancient Greek and continued to trudge down the stairs to the library.

I was still in line for textbooks when the bell rang, signaling that there was 5 more minutes until lunch started. Everyone left to go to lunch, leaving me deserted in the library. I shrugged; guess I don't have to wait in line anymore. Once I stuffed all my textbooks in my locker, I proceeded to the cafeteria to grab something to eat.

There was a girl standing in front of me at the cashier. I didn't recognize her from the previous year that I've attended Bronx Academy High School. Must be new, I thought to myself. The thing that surprised me most about the girl was that she suddenly swore in ancient Greek, something that only half bloods at our school could do. Strange, I thought to myself. Could she be a half blood? No matter, I guess I'll just have to know a bit more about her to find out.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Huh, oh nothing. Just left my wallet at home. It's fine, I'll just not have any lunch today."

"No, no." I said. "It's fine, I'll pay for you."

"No, really it's fine. You don't have to pay for me," she said.

I chose to ignore her and paid for both our lunches. Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. I smirked; let's see what you can do about this, I thought to myself. I took both of our sandwiches and cokes to a table, forcing the girl to follow me.

"Hey! What the Had- I mean … hell was that?" she said. "You know, if you wanted me to sit with you, you could have just asked."

For a moment there, I almost dropped everything on the floor. Was she about to say what the Hades? It was the sound of her fingers snapping in front of my face to bring me back to reality.

"Hello? Earth to …"

"Nico," I said. "My name is Nico di Angelo. What's your name?"

"Thalia Grace," she said. "Nice to meet you."

"Same. So are you new here?"

"Yeah," she said. "My mom and I moved here about 2 months ago."

I couldn't help but notice that she practically spat the word 'mom' out in that sentence. She must not like her mom a lot, I thought to myself.

"What grade are you in?" I asked, secretly hoping that she was a sophomore like I was. One look at her 'death to Barbie' shirt already got her on my favorite people list. She was different from every girl in our school; special. Woah there, Nico! I mentally screamed at myself. You just met her!

"Grade 10," she said.

"Same!" I said a bit too excitedly.

She raised an eyebrow at me, while I just blushed.

"Um … Nico, can you pass my sandwich and coke please? Lunch is almost over."

"Right," I said. "Sorry."

"It's ok."

When I gave her the sandwich, our hands touched and it was like electricity passed through both of us. This time, both of us blushed. We chewed our sandwiches in an attempt to rid of that moment of awkward silence, which unfortunately for us, failed. I cleared my throat.

"So what are some of your interests?"

"I love music, so naturally I go to CD stores a lot, and also Hot Topic to buy band shirts. I like watching movies as well."

"Really?" I said. "We have a lot in common. What bands do you like?"

"Green Day, Metallica, Good Charlotte, Three Days Grace, you know, those type of bands."

"Wow," I said. "I never took you to be one of those punk rock, metal girls."

"I can tell you like alternative music as well," Thalia said.

"How so?" I asked. "Because you're spot on."

She laughed. "The Nirvana shirt explains it all."

She really was the perfect girl. All the girls at my school are listening to Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, and all those type of disgraces to music. (Puke) But this girl, Thalia, she has a sense of style. She's unique, unlike every other girl. Really, Nico? I asked myself. The perfect girl? You know what will happen if you fall in love. You promised yourself! Think about what happened. Think about mom, and Bianca. You loved them, and you lost both of them. Think of the pain you went through! Do you want that to happen to yourself again? No matter how hard I tried to fight something Aphrodite calls the best thing in the world, love, I knew that there was no point in trying. I had fallen, hard, for this Thalia Grace. There was no stopping it; the internal fire of love, of passion inside me couldn't be tamed. I loved Thalia, and there was nothing I could do about it.

The bell rang, signaling that lunch was over. Thalia and I said our goodbyes, heading over to our next class.

_Looking at you, holding my breath_

_For once in my life I'm scared to death_

_I'm taking a chance, letting you inside_

_Maybe I'm wrong, I'm feeling right_

_Where I belong with you tonight_

_Like being in over to feel for the first time_

_The world that I see inside you_

_Waiting to come to life_

_Waking me up to dreaming_

_Reality in your eyes_

_Looking at you, holding my breath_

_For once in my life I'm scared to death_

_I'm taking a chance, letting you inside_

Those lines kept replaying over and over in my head. I tried to think of something else, anything other than Thalia. My mind wasn't functioning, instead of thinking of something else, all I could think of was Thalia's electric blue eyes, the 'death to Barbie shirt', and that feeling when our hands touched. Finally, I took out my iPod and pressed shuffle, hoping that the music will help drown out my thoughts.

_Accidentally in love_

_Accidentally in love_

_Accidentaly in love_

_Accidentally,_

_I'm in love, I'm in love_

_I'm in love, I'm in love_

_I'm in love, I'm in love_

Gods, even my iPod hates me. All I could do was walk to math class with thoughts of Thalia Grace, still lingering in my mind.

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**The songs that I used above are: First Time by Lifehouse, and Accidentally In Love by Counting Crows. **

**First of all, I have to say a big thank you to those who reviewed. (You know who you are) **

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Again, if you have any song suggestions, feel free to PM or drop it off with a review. **

**Farewell, for now ...**

**~the ghost king**


	3. Chapter 2: First Date

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, nor do I own any of the songs used below.**

**Enjoy!

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**Nico ~**

It was mid November now, almost 2 months after the school year had begun. As usual, school was a bore, with classes dragging on forever, seeming like they would never end. School was almost unbearable, well except for the part about seeing Thalia. The reason I actually bothered to get up early to get to school in the morning was because of her. If Thalia wasn't there, I would just do what I've done for the past few years, ditch.

Over the past few weeks, Thalia and I had become close friends. We would always sit together at lunch, sit next to each other if we had the same class, and of course, hang out afterschool. I don't exactly understand why I never get bored of this routine like I normally do with others, but I guess it's just that I feel this sort of connection to Thalia, like I couldn't be separated from her.

It was Monday again, the day where everyone just wants to go to sleep and not wake up. Thalia wasn't at school today, and without her here, I felt like I was … lost. It was like my life force was drained completely, nothing I did made me so much as smile. Even my favorite class, ancient Greek didn't seem fun at all.

"Hey there Nico," Percy said as he sat down next to me at the lunch table, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Hey," I replied glumly.

"What's up man?"

"Nothing much," I replied. I really wanted to tell Percy to leave me alone, but kept my mouth shut, refraining myself from yelling at one of my best friends.

"Come on, I know you better than that. I'm not as much of a seaweed brain when it comes to emotions."

"Oh please," I said.

"What? I am good at reading emotions!"

"You are so not!"

"Whatever," Percy said. "Let's get down to more serious business."

"Like what?" I asked.

"You like her don't you?" Percy said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said, while trying to hide the surprise in my voice. How did he know? I asked myself.

"Don't lie," Percy said. "It's quite obvious that you like Thalia."

"You're out of your mind," I replied, folding my arms over my chest.

"Stop denying it," a voice behind us said suddenly. "You can't fool me."

Percy and I both turned around to see a girl standing behind us. It was rather strange because her looked exactly like Thalia's but the clothes she was wearing, was definitely something Thalia wouldn't wear for a million years. The Thalia look-alike was wearing a pink miniskirt and tank top, which was extremely strange to see on well … Thalia.

"Who are you?" I asked.

The girl giggled. "Someone you can never lie to about love."

"Lady … Aphrodite," Percy stammered. "I hope you're not here to have fun with my love life again."

"No, no. I'm not here for that," Aphrodite said. "I'm here to speak with Nico about his little secret.

Percy nodded. "Alright then, I'll let you both talk privately."

"Thanks you," Aphrodite said.

"Best of luck to you, Nico." Percy gave me a thumbs up, then left, leaving me alone with the goddess of love. Oh gods.

"Nico, if you don't start admitting that you like Thalia, then I'm going to charm speak you, and I promise you that you won't like it one bit."

I gulped. "Charm speak me?"

"Precisely," Aphrodite replied.

"What exactly are you going to make me do?" I asked.

"Well, lot's of things. I would probably start off with making you do the most embarrassing things, like serenading to Thalia, unless … unless you ask her out first." She said.

"What?" That's outrageous!" I yelled.

"Trust me, I could do a lot worse. That's only the beginning," Aphrodite said.

"Fine," I said, defeated. There was no point in fighting a losing battle.

"Good!" Aphrodite said, while clapping her hands together excitedly.

"So how am I supposed to uh … ask Thalia out?" I almost chocked on those words.

"Well obviously it has to be real romantic!" Aphrodite exclaimed.

Oh joy, I thought to myself.

"You can use the direct way. Go straight up to her and kiss her on the cheek, and say 'I won't take no for an answer', then ask her out."

"No way am I doing that!" I practically screamed at the love goddess.

"Fine, I'll give you some other options."

"Yay," I said sarcastically.

"Number one: leave a note in her locker. Get her a rose and write down a specific place and time to meet. Number two: buy her a teddy bear and a dozen roses, then get down on one knee in front of her and ask her out. Number three: bake a cake that has an inscription of 'will you go out with me' is written on it. Number four, buy her a fake rose, and give it to her while you say 'I will love you till this rose dies. Once you do that, ask her out!"

I wrinkled up my nose at the last option. How sappy was that?

"Oh she'll love it," Aphrodite said.

I stared at her. Did she just read my mind? I thought to myself.

"Yes I did. Now come on, you have to pick one!"

"Ugh! Fine, I'll just stick with the last option. I'll save the rest for next time."

"Aw, that's so sweet! You're already thinking about the future?"

Save me, I thought to myself.

"Now Nico, no backing out because I'll be watching. Goodbye for now!"

Aphrodite vanished in a sparkling, pink light, and in the place of where she was sitting; there was a fake red rose. Great, I thought to myself. That saved me a trip to the store.

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**Nico ~**

That night, I could sleep at all, thinking about the many ways that Thalia could react. So what if Aphrodite was watching? She had a reputation for making girls break every guy's heart. What if she made Thalia do that to me? It would literally kill me! I kept on tossing and turning on my bed until I finally fell asleep at around 4a.m. I groaned when my alarm clock started ringing at … wait what? 7:00 a.m.? I set it for 7:30! What is going on here? Wait a minute …

"Aphrodite!" I hissed.

Suddenly, a card appeared out of nowhere and fluttered on the floor. I bent down to pick it up. The card was white, with a gold border around it, and in pink, elegant writing it read:

_Dearest Nico,_

_It was I who set your alarm clock to ring at an earlier time. How do you expect to dress up nicely when you only wake up with enough time to brush your teeth and shadow travel yourself to school? _

_Anyways, you should go have a look at your wardrobe. I have already stocked it up with an endless supply of dress shirts, jeans, and of course in case of any emergencies, a couple of tuxedoes. You always have to be prepared for the journey of love! _

_And as for your concern about my intervening in Thalia's thoughts and actions, you have nothing to worry about. I swear on the River Styx that whatever Thalia does will be of her own free will, and will have nothing to do with my tampering. _

_Best of luck! _

_Aphrodite_

_P.S. Take a look in the mirror._

I sighed. Today is going to be a long day. I opened my drawer and took the thing my hand had latched itself to from the pile stacks of clothing. It was a blue and black plaid shirt from Abercrombie & Fitch. Not bad, I thought to myself. Could have been a lot worse. I slipped on a pair of jeans and pulled on my black converse, then proceeded to the brush my teeth and "take a look in the mirror", as Aphrodite had instructed.

I stared at my reflection at the bathroom mirror, and fortunately, I lived by myself, so my hollers of surprise couldn't be heard. My messy black mop of hair was gone, and in place of that was a semi faux hawk. I had to admit, it did look a lot better than what I had before, but Aphrodite really went as far as this? Geez, it was just my hair! I sighed, and then shook my head. I guess Aphrodite will always be Aphrodite.

Once all the basic needs were taken care of, it was already 7:30. I grabbed my backpack, then the fake rose on my desk and shadow travelled to the alleyway that was next to the school. It was quite annoying that I couldn't just shadow travel right into the school, but who knows what will happen if I suddenly appear out of nowhere. I stopped in front of the school gates and took a deep breath. You can do this Nico. Come one! I took another breath, and proceeded to walk into the school like any other day. The only problem was that today wasn't just any other day; it was the first time in my life that I was going to ask a girl out, and I was nerve racked.

I walked over to where Thalia, Percy, the rest of the gang, and I usually meet in the morning, and basically whenever we weren't in class. Percy was the first to see me, and waved for me to come over.

"Guess who's back?" Percy asked excitably.

"Oh I don't know," I said, acting like I had no clue. "Is it Thalia?"

Everyone laughed.

"Of course it isn't," Thalia said, while smiling that breathtaking smile of hers.

"Nice hair man!" the Stoll brothers said as they wolf whistled.

The others all nodded in agreement.

"Shut up, you two!" I said. "But thanks anyways."

"Annabeth, the Stolls, and I have a project due next period. We have to add the finishing touches to the presentation so we'll be in the library if you need us."

Percy gave me a reassuring pat on the back, while the Stoll brothers both gave me mischievous smirks before heading to the library with Annabeth.

Next to go were Clarisse and Chris.

"I'm going to beat up some freshmen," Clarisse said, while cracking her knuckles.

Soon, everyone left, leaving only Thalia and I standing there next to the coffee shop. Seriously, some of the excuses that our friends made up were pretty stupid, but at least their intentions were good. I took out the fake rose and looked at it for a minute before clearing my throat. I sighed. Here goes nothing.

"Thalia," I said.

"Yes?"

I held out the rose and repeated the exact words of the love goddess. "I will love you till this rose dies." I cleared my throat again. "Would you like to um … go bowling with me tomorrow night, since it's um … Friday?"

She laughed. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

"Yes," I replied uneasily. Thoughts were racing in my head. Was she rejecting me? Why was she laughing? I felt like I was going to throw up.

"So is that a no then?" I asked.

"What? Of course not! That's a yes silly!"

I smiled in relief. "So does that kind of make us … girlfriend and boyfriend now?"

"I guess."

"That's good then," I said. I'll pick you up at 6p.m. then."

"Perfect," she replied. "I'll see you later then."

I nodded and waved, as she turned around to head to class. Aphrodite would be proud, I thought to myself as I turned the other way.

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**Friday Night**

**Nico ~**

It was 5:45p.m. and I was already outside of Thalia's apartment. I drummed my fingers aimlessly on the steering wheel, waiting for time to pass by faster. I turned on the radio to my favorite rock station.

_In the car I just can't wait_

_To pick you up on our very first date_

_Is it cool if I hold your hand?_

_Is it wrong if I think it's lame to dance?_

_Do you like my stupid hair?_

_Would you guess that I didn't know what to wear?_

_I'm too sacred of what you think_

_You make me nervous so I really can't eat_

_Let's go, don't wait, this night's almost over_

_Honest, let's make this night last forever_

_Forever and ever, let's make this last forever_

_Forever and ever, let's make this last forever_

I was worried about so many things. I had actually spent hours trashing my room, trying on every piece of clothing that Aphrodite had stocked in my wardrobe. Trust me, it was no easy task, but I finally came up with a blue and white stripped Armani dress shirt, and a pair of black jeans.

I turned the radio off once I saw Thalia emerge from the elevator. She wasn't dressed in anything grand since it was just a casual night out, but to me, she was still pretty. I got out of the car and opened the door for Thalia. It was one of the many tips of being a gentleman that Aphrodite had taught me. Sometimes, getting help from the goddess of love was a good thing.

Once I got home that night, I couldn't help but think back to the song that was playing on the radio.

_Let's go, don't wait, this night's almost over_

_Honest, let's make this night last forever_

_Forever and ever, let's make this last forever_

_Forever and ever, let's make this last forever_

It's true; this night was the best night that I've had so far in my life so far. There was nobody that could beat me at bowling that was until Thalia broke my winning streak. Even though tonight wasn't those fancy elegant dinners, or anything like that, I still had lots of fun. It was one of the days that I would remember for the rest of my life, and I was sure of that. That internal fire inside of me is still blazing as strong as ever, and it seems as though I loved Thalia even more, as each minute passed by. I fell asleep, dreaming of Thalia, and the wonderful times that I would have with her in the future.

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**Thanks to all those who reviewed.**

**The song used above is First Date by Blink-182.**

**And to clarify a bit, Thalia hasn't been to Camp Half-Blood but the rest of the gang have. So basically, Thalia hasn't been Bianca di Angelo before. Nico's mother is also dead because of the original reason in the PJO series, so he lives by himself in an apartment that his father pays for. This is a slightly A.U. story (if you can even call it that) so I apologize for any confusion caused. If you have any questions, you can PM or leave it as a review. The same goes for any song suggestions, if any.**


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